Getting Better All the Time

Though Sunday’s win marked the Broncos’ ninth in a row, the team still knows there are aspects of its game to improve.

BALTIMORE – Thoughplenty went right for the Broncos in the team’s 34-17 win at Baltimore on Sunday, each player in the locker room knows that there is still room for improvement.

“We just try to get better every week,” Head Coach John Fox said. “Right now, our guys have responded well to just improving every week.”

A major point of emphasis entering Sunday’s contest was winning the turnover battle.

The Broncos succeeded in that category, taking the ball away from the Ravens twice, one of which was returned a 98 yards for a score.

“The big challenge this week was to win the turnover battle,” Fox said. “We were able to do that and I thought that was really the difference in the game.”

In his first year with a new team, quarterback Peyton Manning talked about the importance of each and every rep he gets with his new teammates.

“Every game I can play with my new teammates is better for me,” Manning said. “I still think we have things our entire team can improve on. You can learn something in each situation.”

As the Broncos close out the regular season with a pair of home games in the final two weeks, improving as a team will be something that the team will be working on during the week of practice and on gameday.

“Well, that’s our goal to try to get better every week,” Manning said. “I think you’re still looking to play at perfect 60-minute game. That’s the goal every week.”

Cornerback Champ Bailey led a defense that allowed just three points through the first three quarters. However, the team captain did not like the way the defense closed the game, allowing 14 points in the fourth quarter.

“I think as a whole we did good things for three quarters but fourth quarter, we’ve got to do better,” Bailey said. “Our offense controls the clock like they did in the fourth quarter, hold the ball nine or 10 minutes, there’s no way we should go on the field and give up a touchdown on the first play. It shouldn’t be like that.”

As the team finishes out its schedule, the team won’t be watching the scoreboard to see what its AFC rivals are doing. Instead, the focus will be on fixing mistakes and getting better week in and week out.

“One week at a time,” Bailey said of the team’s mentality. “We’ve just got to keep improving. We’ve obviously got things we can fix on defense. We’ve got to finish better. We’ve been talking about it, we’ve just got to do it.”